Sydney Chisholm
Things are not like they used to be in Kamloops bars and nightclubs, and the COVID-19 pandemic is only partly to blame.
Nightclub owners, who are now dealing with ballooning insurance costs, say they have noticed a change in their clubs since fully reopening earlier this year.
“It’s a lot different, people [are] a lot more respectful,” Dino Bernardo, co-owner of the Commodore told Castanet Kamloops.
“It’s a lot different than what it used to be like — it’s not necessarily better or worse. It’s just the narrative has changed a little bit.”
Some in the industry say there was a decline of nightclub popularity a few years before the pandemic hit, but Blue Grotto owner Pup Johnston said COVID-19 changed all of that.
“Covid was like a shot in the arm for the industry. It was like we hit a great reset…
